[England] Schools hold ‘crisis talks’ to consider three-day weeks

Schools across England are holding 'crisis meetings' to consider three-day working weeks as they struggle to cover soaring energy costs and staff salary rises, LBC reports.

Headteachers are in talks with school governors and trustees during the summer holidays about how they will manage the next academic year, with budgets stretched to breaking point amid the cost of living crisis.

Teachers are also due to be awarded pay rises in September, experts warn that this will pile more pressure on schools' already-tight finances.

Marc Jordan - CEO of Creative Education Trust, which has 17 schools in the Midlands and East Anglia - told The Telegraph that some schools were even considering three-day working weeks in a bid to save cash.

Dr Robin Bevan - headmaster of Southend High School for Boys in Essex - also told the newspaper, "If a four-day week is not already being planned, it will certainly be being considered by some schools."

Other desperate measures could include recruitment freezes, cancelling pandemic catch-up programs, putting off building improvements and planning redundancies.

Mr Jordan also predicts that schools will be forced to resort to using "draconian restrictions on energy usage" as energy bills skyrocket to around 300 per cent more than last year.

Funding per pupil in England has collapsed by nine per cent between 2010 and 2020 in real terms despite the Government's additional £7 billion for school budgets in England by 2024.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said, "We recognise that schools – much like the wider economy – are facing increased costs, including on energy and staff pay.

''Our schools white paper set out our expectation that the school week should last a minimum of 32.5 hours - the current average - for all mainstream state-funded schools.

"Thousands of schools already deliver this length of week within existing budgets and we expect current funding plans to account for this."

The two Conservative leadership contenders are facing a call to more than double the level of Government support to low-income families to avert a cost of living crisis "catastrophe" this winter.

On August 13, seventy charities and community organisations signed an open letter to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak warning that families on benefits are facing a £1,600 shortfall over the coming months, despite receiving £1,200 in the last Government support package.

In the letter - co-ordinated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) - they caution that soaring energy bills will mean many low-income households are already facing a choice between skipping meals or not heating their homes and that the situation will only get worse.

"Many of our organisations work directly with these families and are becoming overwhelmed, too often unable to provide the support so desperately needed," the letter said.

"This situation cannot be allowed to continue.

"As the prospective leaders of this country, we urge you to act now to demonstrate the compassion and leadership needed to tackle this issue head-on.

"We ask you both to pledge that, under your premiership, everyone who needs it will be properly supported when they hit hard times.

"This means ensuring that, at a minimum, the social security system always provides people with enough to be able to afford the essentials."

Source: LBC

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

Schools across England are holding 'crisis meetings' to consider three-day working weeks as they struggle to cover soaring energy costs and staff salary rises, LBC reports.

Headteachers are in talks with school governors and trustees during the summer holidays about how they will manage the next academic year, with budgets stretched to breaking point amid the cost of living crisis.

Teachers are also due to be awarded pay rises in September, experts warn that this will pile more pressure on schools' already-tight finances.

Marc Jordan - CEO of Creative Education Trust, which has 17 schools in the Midlands and East Anglia - told The Telegraph that some schools were even considering three-day working weeks in a bid to save cash.

Dr Robin Bevan - headmaster of Southend High School for Boys in Essex - also told the newspaper, "If a four-day week is not already being planned, it will certainly be being considered by some schools."

Other desperate measures could include recruitment freezes, cancelling pandemic catch-up programs, putting off building improvements and planning redundancies.

Mr Jordan also predicts that schools will be forced to resort to using "draconian restrictions on energy usage" as energy bills skyrocket to around 300 per cent more than last year.

Funding per pupil in England has collapsed by nine per cent between 2010 and 2020 in real terms despite the Government's additional £7 billion for school budgets in England by 2024.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said, "We recognise that schools – much like the wider economy – are facing increased costs, including on energy and staff pay.

''Our schools white paper set out our expectation that the school week should last a minimum of 32.5 hours - the current average - for all mainstream state-funded schools.

"Thousands of schools already deliver this length of week within existing budgets and we expect current funding plans to account for this."

The two Conservative leadership contenders are facing a call to more than double the level of Government support to low-income families to avert a cost of living crisis "catastrophe" this winter.

On August 13, seventy charities and community organisations signed an open letter to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak warning that families on benefits are facing a £1,600 shortfall over the coming months, despite receiving £1,200 in the last Government support package.

In the letter - co-ordinated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) - they caution that soaring energy bills will mean many low-income households are already facing a choice between skipping meals or not heating their homes and that the situation will only get worse.

"Many of our organisations work directly with these families and are becoming overwhelmed, too often unable to provide the support so desperately needed," the letter said.

"This situation cannot be allowed to continue.

"As the prospective leaders of this country, we urge you to act now to demonstrate the compassion and leadership needed to tackle this issue head-on.

"We ask you both to pledge that, under your premiership, everyone who needs it will be properly supported when they hit hard times.

"This means ensuring that, at a minimum, the social security system always provides people with enough to be able to afford the essentials."

Source: LBC

(Link and quotes via original reporting)